RICHMOND — Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson went looking for the youth vote in Virginia Monday, playing to his strength, according to recent polls.

The former Republican governor of New Mexico, running on a platform of balanced budgets, individual freedom and major rollbacks in government action, hit college towns in Lynchburg and Charlottesville, then pitched Virginia Commonwealth University students in downtown Richmond.

The Liberty Tour 2016 he hooked up with in Richmond heads to William & Mary Tuesday evening, though Johnson is headed to Las Vegas.

"Young people right now are getting screwed," he said to a crowded, rowdy Richmond theater. "I'm going to get my health care, I'm going to get my retirement, but lucky if you get any of that."

Johnson wore a suit and tie for media interviews ahead of his speech, but switched to jeans and a zip-up jacket for his turn behind the podium. He donned a Chicago Cubs hat, too.

Photos from campaign visits to Virginia during the 2016 presidential campaign cycle.

(Jonathan Heeter)

The Cubs have a shot this year to break a 106-year World Series drought, and Johnson would like a little of that good fortune in the presidential race. Polls put him below the 15 percent support threshold needed to join Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the presidential debates, a real bone of contention for Libertarians who believe all serious candidates — Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states — should be included.

CaptionWhat Trump can (or can't) do about flag burning laws

Trump wants to make burning the American flag illegal, but the president has no direct power to amend the Constitution.

Trump wants to make burning the American flag illegal, but the president has no direct power to amend the Constitution.

Johnson promises to whittle away at the federal government's $17 trillion debt, submitting a balanced budget to Congress based in large part on entitlement reforms and military spending cuts. He's anti-Obamacare, but said the country needs some sort of health care safety net.

He's against interventionist wars and foreign nation building. He said that, based on what he knows now, he would pardon Edward Snowden, the former national security contractor who revealed government eavesdropping programs before going into exile in Russia.

Johnson pitched himself Monday as a pragmatic Libertarian and let other speakers fire up the crowd when it comes to legalizing Marijuana and ending the war on drugs. The tour he headlined hit those elements often, with a former Maryland police officer giving a rousing speech on scaling down police tactics before a comedian skewered Trump and Clinton.

"A lot of people think Donald Trump might be the next Hitler," said Jeremy McLellan, who will be with the Liberty Tour Tuesday in Williamsburg. "And by people, I mean his supporters."

Tom Hay drove from Gloucester to Richmond for the 7 p.m. rally. He said he's been voting Libertarian for 20 years. Funny story: He knows more people this year willing to join him.

"Put it this way," he said, "the alternatives have convinced my family."

Hay said he likes the balance struck by a modern Libertarian philosophy. Not isolationist in foreign policy, but not interventionist, either. An absolute focus on individual liberty.

Asked about Johnson's recent flubs (he seemed confused when asked about Aleppo, a Syrian city under siege, then struggled in another interview to name a foreign leader he admired) Hay gave Johnson credit for owning up to his mistakes. And better to have a president who's strong on the constitution, Hay said, and weaker on foreign policy, than the other way around.

Johnson did interviews before Monday's speech with a number of journalists, and particularly student reporters. Terry Michael, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee in the 1980s, kept the small line of interviewers moving. From the stage later that night, Michael said he's seen a poll or two in his day, and that anyone voting for Clinton just to avoid a President Trump can relax.